Page 26 of The Scot’s Seduction (Heirs & Spares #2)

T he girls can share a room with Priscilla—she’ll enjoy that—and the boys can have their own room, with me and Mrs. Green sharing a room as well.”

It hadn’t taken long for Joey to plan where everyone would be accommodated.

They were in Drusilla’s workroom; the children had been dispatched to a variety of temporary sleeping arrangements after eating copious amounts of Cook’s freshly baked raisin bread. Drusilla and Joey had come in here with a bottle of whisky after settling everyone in.

“Mind you don’t do this again,” Joey continued, wagging her finger at Drusilla. “We don’t have enough room, not unless you’re gonna want to be bunking up with the earl.”

Drusilla shook her head. “No, that is not likely. I’ve been too distracted—I need to return to my work.”

Joey gave a snort. “Like you can’t do both. Besides which, we both know you work better when you are...satisfied,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.

Drusilla opened her mouth to retort, but Joey was only telling the truth.

“I’ll just have to make do on my own,” she replied.

“What has got you worried, Dru?” Joey spoke in a low, considerate tone. One she thankfully rarely used with Dru.

Drusilla looked away. “The earl is different from most other men,” she said.

“He’s certainly a lot bigger.”

Drusilla glared at Joey. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

“You mean,” Joey said, taking a sip of whisky, “that he is intelligent, thoughtful, kind, and seems to care about you rather than just what you do together?”

“Well,” Drusilla said, draining her glass, “you certainly summed it all up there now, didn’t you?” Her own voice sounded shaky.

“I like to be honest, Dru, as you do.” Joey jerked her chin toward her friend. “What’s the worst that happens if you continue with him?’

Drusilla’s eyes widened as she stared at Joey.

“You mean beyond falling in love, when I’ve vowed never to marry?

Having my heart broken—again—when I have spent my entire life trying to protect against that?

Never mind falling in love with someone who clearly doesn’t enjoy life here and longs to go back to his sheep and whatnot. ”

“The whatnot might be his love in return,” Joey observed. She poured another draft into Drusilla’s glass.

“Could you see me living among the sheep?” Drusilla said. “I’d be there—”

“I’d see you making the best of your situation no matter where you are,” Joey interrupted. “It would be a change, for certain. But don’t foreclose on that before you’ve given yourself an opportunity to be happy. Really happy.”

Drusilla felt her breath hitch. She was usually the person advocating for solutions that were not the expected ones, and here Joey was, turning the tables and saying what Drusilla might’ve said to anyone else. And likely had.

“After all this time, after all those gentlemen, now you’re telling me to follow my heart?” Drusilla said in a wry tone.

Joey shrugged. “Those others haven’t been worthy of you, and you know that. This one might be.” She shot a look at her friend. “At least he has a chance to be, depending on how he continues.”

For nearly the first time in ten years, Drusilla felt herself start to imagine a different future. And couldn’t help but think of all the ramifications.

Joey raised her glass toward her, a wicked grin on her face. “I see you thought of how he might continue in that one area. I was speaking in general, but you have a much more salacious brain. Not that I mind,” she said, taking a sip.

“Oh, you’re just as bad as—” Drusilla began, and then they heard the distinct sound of the door opening, and Harry’s voice speaking to Bertha, who’d been waiting up.

Then she heard the low rumble of his voice and felt prickles slide up her arm.

“I’ll tell the earl you’re in here,” Joey said, emptying her glass and placing it on the table as she rose.

“Oh, but—” Drusilla began, but Joey was already out the door, not even pausing to shoot Drusilla a sly, knowing look, which meant Joey was quite serious about all of this.

A few moments passed before there was a rap on the door, and then the earl stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

“You’re back,” Drusilla observed, then wanted to bash herself in the forehead, because of course he was back, and she sounded like an idiot.

“I’m back,” he echoed, as he walked to the seat he’d had the other day and sat down.

“There’s a fresh glass over there, if you want something,” she said, nodding toward the small table in front of her that held glasses and alcohol that wasn’t the whisky. “You look as though you could use it.”

“Indeed,” he said in a heartfelt manner.

“I didn’t want to stay, but you made a good point.

” He filled the glass, then sat again. “My whole goal here is to get Emily settled in a way we can both agree on, and it was important that she continue to meet people and gain experience in this world if she is going to stay here.” He took a deep swallow.

“Though she might’ve just upended that all by herself,” he said, a wry smile curling one side of his mouth.

“How so?” Drusilla leaned against the sofa, one arm stretching out along the back.

“She said something to the effect that she should actually care about others, even if they’re wearing rags.”

Drusilla gave an approving nod. “She is a lovely girl. I hope her desire for equality doesn’t end up ruining her chances in—no, never mind,” she said, waving her hand. “If it means that some families decide her fortune isn’t worth her forthrightness, that is fine with me.”

“And with me. There was one gentleman who seemed reasonable, a Mr. Venning.”

“I don’t know anything about him. But I will ask, if it seems that this Mr. Venning is seriously interested.”

“Thank you,” he replied. “I figured that since you do actually speak to people who might not be in your social world that you would know things about those folks.”

“Especially since some of those folks don’t think about the fact that their servants are right there, listening to them, and they’re neither deaf nor mute.”

“Your world is complicated, my lady,” he replied. He sounded weary.

Which suddenly made her feel weary; despite being as close to her actual self as possible, it was still exhausting to be in Society. To exchange pleasantries with someone when you knew you could be doing something productive with your time.

But if she didn’t maintain her footing in Society, she wouldn’t be able to separate them from their money when the need arose. And the need was always arising. Nor would she be able to leverage her standing to intervene in some injustice or another.

“It is very complicated,” she agreed. “And this is why we’ve struck our bargain—I don’t know that you would have been able to navigate it well enough to be certain your niece wasn’t hoodwinked into a bad marriage.”

“I know I wouldn’t have,” he agreed, taking another drink. He placed his glass down, then turned to look at her. “Thank you.”

His dark gaze was full of warmth, and she felt her chest tighten. She bit her lip, then spoke. “Could you—would you mind holding me for a bit?”

He didn’t answer, just got up to sit next to her, sliding his arms around her in one smooth movement.

“Like this?” he murmured, as she burrowed into his arms.

“Yes.”

I t was unusual, to say the least, to see her being vulnerable. He guessed she rarely, if ever, revealed her vulnerability. At least to anyone besides Miss Joey.

And now him.

He was grateful she trusted him enough to ask him for this. Holding her, his arms wrapped around her body, her head lowered against his chest, felt right. It felt as though they’d been doing this for years.

“I am not usually such a ninny,” she said in a low voice.

Her fingers clutched his sleeves. “It just came over me, I suppose. I know that Mrs. Smithwick will likely disparage my actions later, and I do hope that this doesn’t affect Emily’s party—but I had to do it, you understand?

” she said, raising her head and gazing into his eyes.

“Of course. You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t marching around interfering in some power imbalance or another. Believe me, I know that firsthand,” he said in a teasing tone.

“I’ve always been like this, I think,” she continued, snuggling back against him. “And then—” She paused, and he felt her hesitation.

“And then?” he prompted.

She exhaled. “And then I made a mistake. I trusted the wrong person. The wrong man. I thought he wanted me, even though our positions were vastly different. I was so foolish.”

“I’m certain you were not,” he replied, tightening his hold.

She uttered a soft laugh. “Well, I certainly threw myself headlong into it.”

“That sounds like you,” he said.

“It turned out that he didn’t actually love me,” she continued.

“He just loved my position. My money.” She sat up again, her expression resolute.

“That is when I realized I was the only person I could trust with myself.” Her face softened.

“Until I met Joey, and Harry the coachman, and a few others. I knew I could trust them. And you.”

Her admission hit him hard. That she trusted him, had told him what inspired the work she was doing, what had forged her into the woman she was, was powerful.

“Thankfully I was able to rescue myself from that situation. It worked out well, didn’t it?” she said, sounding more like herself. She gave him an impudent look but didn’t withdraw from his arms. He tightened his hold, and she sighed against him.

“It did,” he said. “Though I imagine you would have been the same person, regardless of some blackguard’s attempt to persuade you into marriage.”